cartoon

In its original meaning, a cartoon (from the Italian cartone, meaning "big paper") is a full-size drawing made on paper as a study for a further artwork, such as a painting or tapestry. Cartoons were typically used in the production of frescoes, to accurately link the component parts of the composition when painted onto plaster over a series of days. Such cartoons often have pinpricks where the outline of the design has been picked out in the plaster. Cartoons by painters such as Raphael and Leonardo da Vinci are highly prized in their own right. A world-renowned collection of Peter Paul Rubens cartoons for huge tapestries is displayed in the collection of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida.